How many of you reading this article have some type of plan for financing your retirement? Now, how many of you, as a part of that financial plan, invest money in either an IRA, 401K, stock market, mutual fund, etc.? Finally, how many of you who are investing in one of those avenues are expecting your investment to increase in value over the time it is invested, so that by retirement the original monies you have invested have grown several fold?
My bet is that nearly everyone reading this article has some type of financial retirement plan that includes investing in an area that they expect to grow in value over the years. And that they understand that money invested early in life will pay big benefits when they retire. I also think they realize that even if it is painful at the time, saving and investing money when you are young will increase the quality of your life in later years.
Now, have you ever thought about those exact same principles in relation to exercise? If you haven’t, then it is time that you do. When it comes to “investing now for future benefits,” exercise and money are a lot alike. If you can start to see exercise as an active investment in your retirement-age health, then you may be much more likely to start and stick with exercise.
Let’s think about this a little more. When it comes to investing money, the sooner you start, the greater the potential reward, and every financial advisor will tell you, it’s never too late to start. Is this the same with exercise?
Most experts would say yes. People who moderately exercise throughout their life often have greater rewards in their later years, but those that are late starters still reap benefits. In fact, when it comes to exercise, you have a better chance of making up ground than you do with investing money. Lifelong exercisers are more likely to avoid conditions, such as high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. However, those that start late and already have one or more of these conditions can often cure themselves of these through exercise.
I’m not saying that exercise, especially life-long exercise, is a guarantee that you will not develop a chronic condition, such as diabetes, but there are no guarantees in the stock market either. People that invest their money in stocks, real estate, mutual funds, etc. do so because they know that, over time, it is more than likely that their money will grow in these environments, rather than diminish. They know that over the history of the stock market, it has gone up, not down. The same is true for exercise.
The reason I make this comparison is that I want you to gain an understanding that regular exercise has benefits. Too many people still see exercise as a way to achieve physical beauty, and exercising just for beauty is a great way to fail. Not seeing results immediately is the No. 1 reason people stop exercising.
Remember all of those New Years resolutions people make to exercise and then abandon after three weeks? They did not see noticeable results for all the work they put into it. How many of you invest money and then decide to pull out of that investment in three weeks because it had not increased in value a “noticeable” amount? My bet is that not many of you expect your investments to double or even triple within a few weeks or even a few months, but instead realize that changes will happen slowly, over time.
The point is you keep your money invested because you know over time you will see results. You may move your money around, but you don’t just stop investing because you are not seeing immediate results. The same is true for exercise. You may not be getting what you want out of one area or type of exercise, so you might try another, but you shouldn’t quit completely. Do you think you will make more money by not investing? Do you think you will see greater results in your body and health by not exercising? Think about it.